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I am vested in this community. My wife and I have lived here since 1988. We've raised our children here. They have attended Mesa Public Schools. We now have grandchildren in the district. I am concerned about the direction of our country and believe that the root of the problem is in the public education system. In Mesa, public education seems to have forgotten its primary mission, to educate the children in the community. I believe I have a unique and valuable skillset as a retired engineer in the manufacturing space and previous owner of a very successful manufacturing business. This skillset includes the ability to analyze complex systems, identify deficiencies and develop solutions to maximize output. I also have the ability to manage people, money and resources to achieve outstanding results.

POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. 32% proficiency across the district in unacceptable. Proficiency rates haven't topped 50% in over a decade. According to an ASU study, teachers must maintain 174 competencies!  That's over-burdensome and needs to be addressed. As a member of the board, I will work to create an environment where teachers can teach! Several schools across the district are performing well. I will work with the leadership at those schools to analyze what they are doing right, then work to replicate that across the district.

LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY. I see too many new programs coming to the district through board approval of Memorandum of Understanding, Memorandum of Agreement, Statement of Assurances, etc. with stated goals such as, increase graduation rates, improve reading scores. Also, many of these programs have no history of success as many are newly developed programs, many times by University graduate students working under grant funding. These newly developed programs simply make MPS the guinea pigs in the proof of concept for the grantee. There are too many proven, quality programs that can be implemented in the district to be subject to this type of experimentation. Additionally, none of these "understandings, agreements, or assurances" have any metrics defined to actually demonstrate success.  As an engineer, I spent many years assuring product quality through objective, quantifiable measurements. While I understand that some education metrics might not be easy to define, I will not support any of these programs coming into the district without having some measure of previous success as well as accountability to the stated goals. The district has experienced decreasing proficiency for the last 3 years. District has also fallen short of its stated goals year after year. Yet no one seems to be held accountable. District leadership must take accountability for performance goals.

I support school choice because I believe that competition drives improvement. Also, I do not believe that students should be stuck in failing public school systems with no alternative. Schools have had a virtual monopoly on education for a long time and the results are abysmal.

Thankfully, Arizona has a Parent's Bill of Rights which declares that parents have the right to direct the upbringing of their children in all matters. While this is the law, the district has been less than prudent in demanding adherence to this right. I will ensure that all issues aligned with this law will be adhered to with fidelity.

No, American is NOT inherently racist. We're probably the least racist country on the planet. Why else would people from over 100 countries risk their lives to try to get here? The tenets of CRT is that every person is inherently racist, whether they know it or not. This is an attempt to divide people based on the made up theory of oppressor and oppressed. This is just another attempt by the liberals to stoke hatred among groups and try to perpetuate racism. CRT has no place in public education.

So many things on these issues. Short answer is no, none of these should be part of public education or materials allowed in the classroom. Sex education in public education should not go beyond the health and biological aspects of sex. Everything that goes beyond that is just social, moral and emotional aspects of sex and does not belong in public schools. These aspects belong at home, where the parents are free to instill their own set of values regarding this topic. DEI needs to DIE. We must teach children that in order to succeed, it requires work. Not this "everyone gets a trophy" nonsense. The value of merit and responsibility is being diminished as a result of DEI, it must go. As for SEL, this is just another example of how districts are straying from their intended lane of education. This is another aspect of social engineering. Teaching morals and values that might be misaligned with those of the parents resulting in disintegration of the family unit. Training educators and staff to be mental health personnel, looking for mental health issues in students. Then the district brings in house mental health clinics. This also, must be eliminated from public education.

3rd grade reading achievement needs to be a paramount milestone as this is one of the greatest predictors of future success. Some schools in the district are doing well, having access to effective materials and teacher training. This must be expanded across the district. Right now, this district is dragging its feet claiming that these successful materials and training are too expensive and cumbersome. Nonsense. A 2021 teacher survey showed that over 78% of teachers feel extreme or severe stress on the job and over 60% of those claim district leadership does not help mitigate that stress. Much of this stress is due to the over-burdening of teachers with activities that aren't related to teachers. I want to encourage an environment that truly respects teachers and one that will allow them more time to do what they do best, teach. While I understand that not all students learn at the same pace and in the same ways, I think there is an opportunity to streamline and centralize both teacher development and classroom materials.

I will not vote on any measure that allows boys to violate the privacy of girls and vice versa. I would be in defiance of Biden's unconstitutional re-write of Title IX. Our district currently allows biological boys who "consistently claim" to be a girl to access bathrooms, locker rooms and showers of girls. I have been speaking out against this for over 3 years. I can't wait to be able to do something to correct this as a board member.

I think the only interpretation of Title IX is its original interpretation, one that does not include gender identity. Allowing gender identity into Title IX completely destroys Title IX's original intent.

I have been endorsed by Stand for Health Freedom, Rachel Walden current Mesa Public Schools board member and candidate for Arizona Corporation Commission; Arizona State Senator David Farnsworth; Shelli Boggs, East Valley Institute of Technology board member and Republican nominee for Maricopa County School Superintendent; Kevin Thompson, current Arizona Corporation Commissioner and former Mesa City Council Member. I expect to obtain many other conservative organizations' endorsement. I received many of them in my run for this office in 2022.